+1 humans.

Serves that critter right, as far as I’m concerned. The little girl just wanted to feel its fuzzy cuddliness. Violence was not the appropriate response, much less biting, which is really immature.

You might argue that he was just scared or defending his territory. All I know is, I’ve tried to explain to an animal before that I don’t mean it any harm, and that when I was growling at it or waving my arms about violently, that I was just playing. But instead of diffusing an escalating situation, as you would expect, it just seemed to make the stupid critter even angrier.

I don’t understand why animals don’t just give up and do whatever we tell them to do. It’s pretty obvious we’re way smarter than they are, and we’re usually bigger and stronger, too. Anytime a dog growls at me, especially a small one, I think to myself, surely he knows I can kick his butt. Does he think I won’t? Because if that’s what he thinks, he’s way wrong.

Personally, I think animals just have very self-destructive personalities.

It’s strange the things that some men find non-negotiable, who would otherwise do anything for the woman they love. Take me for example. I’ll go to incredible lengths for my wife. Why, I’ll wait hours for my love in the darkest corners of any place where she doesn’t know I am, and surprise her with loud, guttural noises, creepy hand motions, and bizarre convulsions of the neck, tongue, and head, just to bring some excitement into my little shoogie-woogie’s life. I can also keep within my mental facilities the most meticulous historical records of any unusual or unique behavior my wonder-muffin has demonstrated over the years of our everlasting love affair, and remind her of each and every one at various, odd and strategy-free moments, just to flood her heart with delightful twitters of nostalgia, and her cheeks with rosy flushes of glee. But ask her to try and get me to go to bed 15 minutes earlier than I want to, or even 15 minutes after I promised to, and she might laugh in your face. She could probably move me in that direction a bit quicker than I give her credit for here, but I think she cuts me some slack since I do all those other great things for her.

What are some strange things that you have a hard time being flexible about with your loved one?

I was working on this one, and was almost finished with it, when Gavin was born. Suffice it to say, all production came to a screeching halt. I found a moment recently to finish it up.

I made a great discovery as I pulled this sequence together. For the longest time, I put together creative pieces as ideas came to me, which was an intermittent, unpredictable, and dare I say, a rare event. I decided to start taking the production of creative pieces a bit more seriously, which led me to the inevitable question of how I was going to do that if my creative juices are so sporadic.

This piece started out as a doodle. I had no idea what I was going to put together, and doodling was the only thing I could think of to help find direction. I sketched a little boy eating a popsicle. Soon afterward I found myself asking what could happen to him that would be interesting (not necessarily funny, but at least interesting). So I imagined that a little girl, younger than him, might walk up to him, and stare at him eating the popsicle, in hopes that he might share. Then I found myself contemplating the little boy’s response to this intrusion upon his private space. One thing led to another, and soon I had a sixteen panel illustrated short story (consolidated to fourteen in the final draft).

Then it occurred to me that creating a funny story wasn’t necessarily about thinking of something funny, at least not essentially. It’s about action and reaction, a chain of events that lead to some sort of conclusion. Putting together a story is as simple as beginning with a premise and thinking about one action at a time. The funny will come; just make sure that the next action is interesting. If you try to come up with a story all at one time, it will almost never happen. This way, the story will practically put itself together every time.

I really love how the eighth panel turned out, and I thought it would make great desktop wallpaper. So I formatted it in several resolutions for anyone who’s interested. If you’re monitor resolution isn’t listed here, just let me know what your resolution is, and I’ll make a version just for you.

I think being a monk would be weird. Or at least not fun. I don’t think that depriving yourself of all the pleasures of life, and indulging in suffering and punishment, is any way to find the meaning of life. Unless you’re a prison guard. A prison gaurd or a convict. Because for prison guards and convicts, punishment is the meaning of life. Well, unless you’re a happy prison guard or convict.

If you’re a sad, angry, or bitter prison guard or convict, maybe you should become a monk.

A monk, or a technical support agent.

I grew up drawing comic strips. It’s been years since I’ve completed one. A lot of things have detracted from my focus, and a lot of things continue to do so. I suppose that, in the long term, my love for computers and technology have been the major cause of distraction over the years. Now, finally, I think things have come full circle. I’m using a Macbook, which I love to use for various creative outlets, much more so than I ever did with my PC’s. Also, after several years of intermittent struggling and fiddling, I’m finally beginning to understand Corel Painter, which is, unarguably, the ultimate computer-based tool for achieving natural-looking artistic results without the mess of real paint and ink; truly a marvel of modern technology for traditional artists.

So here are my first (published) results. I’ve shown this strip to several friends locally. My wife is the only one who got it. Everyone else just looked at me like I was crazy, or giggled awkwardly and tried frantically to escape without being noticed. I’ve decided to publish it regardless. I hope I get different results from my online audience, but if I don’t, then I’ll just mark it up to a good first try.

I’m very interested in your honest, candid, blunt impression of this short piece. Let me know how it hit you. Did you get it right off? Did you have to think about it? Did it make you laugh? How much? If you had to think about it, was it worth the brain activity, or was it just a waste of time?

Lay it on me. I’m a big boy.